The Baby Box
by iwillalwaysbeyourlight
Summary: Lorelai and Luke prepare for the birth of their first child. My take on part of Luke and Lorelai's life after marriage.


A/N: This is something I've been working on since before the show ended. It's what I think might have happened if Chris hadn't messed things up with Lorelai and Luke and if April had never appeared on the scene. Huge thanks to my fabulous beta reader, Adina! Please read and review!

Luke Danes was a man on a mission. Slipping quietly into his bedroom, he went straight to the closet and pulled a small box off the shelf. He sat down on the floor right in front of the closet and slowly started to look through the box, taking everything in as if he were seeing it all for the first time. Truth be told, he'd actually been looking through the same box at least once a week for the past few months. He smiled when he pulled out a picture of Rory, brand new and pink and beautiful with a head full of soft brown hair. There was another picture of her with Lorelai, who was wearing a wide but tired grin. In the photo, Rory was staring intently at her mother's face. Luke imagined that must have been the moment the intense love and devotion between them had blossomed.

He then came to a tiny pink hat and ran his fingers over the soft fabric. It was hard for him to believe that the little baby who once wore the hat had grown into the beautiful, intelligent twenty-two year old woman who was downstairs watching a movie with his wife. Luke found a picture of a slightly older Rory mixed in with all her newborn pictures. She couldn't have been more than a year old and had already perfected Lorelai's famous pout. Next he pulled out two ultrasound pictures, a grainy one that Lorelai had labeled 'Rory' and a clearer one of his future child sucking its thumb.

"_Don't start now," Lorelai said while gently poking her stomach, "You'll never give up the habit." She then turned to Luke, "Look hon, our kid is already planning to saddle us with a huge orthodontics bill."_

"_That's okay," He replied softly, marveling at the image of their baby on the screen, "Whatever makes the baby happy."_

Lorelai's voice shook him from his thoughts. "Luke?" She called from the hallway. Before he could answer she appeared in the doorway, her hands resting on her stomach. "There you are!"

Luke immediately went into panic mode, "What's wrong? Is it time?" Their thumb sucking baby was due to arrive in three days and Luke was on high alert.

Lorelai laughed. "No, it's not time. Rory and I were just wondering where you were. You disappeared right after dinner."

Luke looked relieved. "Oh, well, I just thought you two might want a little mother-daughter time before the baby comes."

Lorelai smiled in appreciation and then let her eyes wander down to the items spread out in front of Luke. "Is that Rory's baby box?"

Luke hesitated for a minute and then nodded, "Yeah."

"Bring it over here please," she requested, walking over to the bed and slowly sitting down. "If I sit down there with you I'll never be able to get up again."

Luke complied, joining Lorelai on the bed and handing her the box. "Here."

Lorelai planted a quick kiss on his lips, "Thank you, hon."

"You're welcome." He returned the kiss, lingering on her lips a bit longer than she had on his.

"So," she gestured to the box, "where were you?"

"Huh? Oh, right." He showed Lorelai the ultrasound picture of Rory. "I was just looking at this."

Lorelai grinned when she saw the picture, "That was the day I found out I was having a girl, see?" She asked, pointing to part of the ultrasound.

Luke squinted, turned his head to the side and studied the ultrasound intently, "Not really."

"That's alright; it's hard to see anyway." Lorelai pulled another ultrasound picture of Rory out of the box and laughed, "You know, we're just lucky Rory didn't grow up to be a stripper or something because she was definitely not shy about showing the world she was a baby girl."

"Unlike her little brother or sister you've got in there." The baby, whom Rory had affectionately nicknamed Boo in honor of its Halloween conception, had been too shy during ultrasounds to reveal its sex.

"_Come on sweetie," Lorelai tapped the top of her belly gently._

"_What are you doing?" Luke asked._

_Lorelai continued tapping, now concentrating on the side of her belly. "Trying to get the baby to turn around so when they come back in with the ultrasound to try again we can find out what the sex is."_

"_Do you really think that's going to work?"_

_Lorelai sighed in exasperation, "No, this kid is not budging. You try, maybe the baby will listen to its daddy."_

"_Lorelai…"he warned gently._

"_Please, Luke?" She stuck out her lower lip._

_Luke's face broke into a half smile, "You're crazy, did you know that?"_

"_Yes, but you love me anyway. Now come on lay down the law for our kid." Lorelai said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her belly._

"_Okay," He brought his lips close to her bare stomach. "Hey in there, it's me, your dad. Could you maybe turn around so your mom and I can start shopping for you?" He massaged her stomach for a minute in hopes of encouraging the baby to change positions, "Anything?"_

_Lorelai shook her head, "I swear the kid never stops moving until we show up for an ultrasound."_

_Luke smiled, "The baby must be shy. Are you sure it's yours?"_

"_Ha-ha, very funny."_

"_I thought it was."_

She shrugged, "I think it'll be fun to be surprised."

"So do I," Luke said, reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.

Lorelai glanced into the box and picked up a picture of Rory from the top of the pile. "God, look how tiny she was."

"I know, I was just looking at her hospital hat and I can't believe how small it is."

"Oh, her little hat," Lorelai cooed softly, taking the hat and holding it close to her heart. "My baby girl is all grown up."

"I know she is." Luke said, absently rubbing Lorelai's stomach.

"She's getting married, Luke."

"Not until next year," he reminded her gently.

Lorelai sighed, "I know, but it seems like just yesterday she was this tiny little baby and now she's a grown woman about to get married and have babies of her own."

Luke looked outraged, "Is Rory pregnant? I'm going to kill Logan!"

Lorelai laughed and waved her hand in dismissal, "God, no! Rory and Logan are too responsible to get pregnant before that wedding they're planning takes place."

"Rory _and _Logan?"

"Okay, Rory's too responsible."

"Unlike someone else we know," Luke joked, running his hand over the surface of her swollen belly.

Lorelai gasped, "Hey now, this little baby was a nice wedding day surprise."

"The best surprise ever." Luke kissed her stomach to illustrate just how much of a welcomed surprise the baby really was.

"_Ugh, kill me now." Lorelai groaned._

_Rory placed a cold cloth on her forehead, "I can't, it's illegal."_

"_Don't you love your mama enough to put me out of my misery?"_

"_I'd miss you too much. Plus, I'm pretty sure Luke would kill me for killing you on your wedding day and I'm too young to die."_

"_I threw up, Rory."_

_Rory crinkled her nose is disgust. "I know you did." _

"_Today was supposed to be perfect," Lorelai said with a frown._

"_It will be. We just have to get you over this little hump." She squeezed her mother's hand reassuringly. "Do you think maybe you're just nervous about today?"_

_Lorelai shook her head, "Nothing has ever felt more right that marrying Luke does."_

"_You ate that old food from Al's didn't you? Luke warned you…"Rory scolded._

"_I swear I didn't! I don't know what's wrong with me, I just feel a little off."_

"_Oh my God," Rory's eyes grew wide, "the apples!"_

"_What apples?"_

"_The apples," Rory said, putting lots of emphasis on the word apple. "How could we have not noticed the apples?"_

"_Honey, stop saying apples, you're making mommy nauseous." Lorelai said, closing her eyes and resting her head against the wall in an attempt to stave off the sick feeling in her stomach._

"_You were eating apples this morning!"_

_Lorelai's eyes grew wide as what Rory was saying dawned on her "Oh, my God." she counted silently on her fingers before speaking again. "I'm late too, really late. I've been so busy getting ready for the wedding I didn't even notice." _

"_So?" Rory threw her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. "What do you think?"_

"_Well, I need to take a pregnancy test before I really think anything." Lorelai said, returning her daughter's hug._

"_Of course."_

"_But I think it's probably safe to say that Santa has finally decided to deliver on that little brother or sister you put on your Christmas List eighteen years ago."_

_Rory smiled happily, "Luke's going to be so surprised!"_

"_That's an understatement," Lorelai said, nodding in agreement._

"Rory was actually a nice surprise too," Lorelai offered. "I mean, she started off more like a punch to the stomach but that wore off fairly quickly."

"Yeah?"

Lorelai nodded, "I'll never forget the first time I saw her. It was at my first doctor's appointment and the doctor turned on the ultrasound machine and pointed to this fluttering spot in a sea of black and white and told me that that was my baby's heart beating." She reached into the box and pulled out an older ultrasound picture. "See?" She asked, pointing to the middle of the picture. "That's the moment I fell in love with her."

Luke smiled, "She's very lucky to have you as a mom."

"I'm lucky to have her." Luke watched Lorelai's face suddenly change from a smile to a slight wince. "Ouch," she whispered, placing her hand on the side stomach.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked, placing his hand on top of hers.

She nodded and smiled reassuringly, allowing Luke to rub the spot where the pain had been, "Just a kick. Our kid has got some strong legs."

Luke continued to rub the spot, "You sure?"

"Yes, trust me that was not a contraction. Believe me, you'll know when it is."

"Good."

"You know, Rory kicked all the time too."

Luke continued to run his hand over her belly, "Really?"

Lorelai nodded, "For the longest time I was convinced she was going to grow up to be a gymnast or soccer player or have ADHD or something, but I guess maybe she was just trying to entertain herself considering there are no books in my womb."

"Did you read to her?" Luke asked, eyeing the children's books on the nightstand that Rory had been reading to baby Boo whenever she got the chance.

"Every night," she ran her hands through his hair and smiled, "Just like you do now."

"What? I don't…"

She cut him off, "Yes, you do. Every night when you think I'm sleeping. Last night it was _Goodnight Moon."_

Luke sighed, "I can't believe you knew."

"Eh," Lorelai shrugged, "you should know by now it's nearly impossible to keep anything from me."

"I'm sorry if I've been waking you up. I just like to have a little alone time with the baby."

"You haven't been waking me up; it's our baby that wakes me up. Besides, I love to just lie there and listen to you read to the baby. It's one of my favorite parts of the night."

"Mine too," he confessed.

She smiled, "Your secret is safe with me."

"So," Luke said after they'd sat in silence for a while, "You ready for this?" He patted her stomach gently.

"I'm more than ready to meet this baby. I am not, however, looking forward to pushing another human being out of my body."

Luke wrapped his arm around Lorelai's shoulder and she snuggled into his body, her large belly pressing into his side. "Well, if it helps any I'll be there with you the whole time, holding your hand and rubbing your back and doing whatever else you need me to do."

She rested her head on his chest, "I know you will be. And it does help a lot."

"You nervous?" Luke asked, taking Lorelai's hand in his.

"Of course, are you?"

"Terrified," Luke paused for a minute. "I just hope I'll be a good dad."

"Oh hon, I've watched you with Rory. You are going to be the best dad in the world."

"What was it like?" Luke asked suddenly, picking up the picture of Lorelai with newborn Rory.

Lorelai didn't bother moving her head from Luke's chest to see what he was looking at. "What was what like?"

"The night Rory was born."

Lorelai lifted her head and smiled at him, "Really?"

Luke nodded and ran his hand up and down her back soothingly. "Tell me all about the night Rory was born."

"Well let's see…" Lorelai considered for a minute, "I was just sitting on my bed minding my own business and watching TV when Rory decided she was ready to make her grand debut. A week and a half early, I might add."

Luke smiled, "I didn't know Rory was early."

"Are you kidding me? Miss Punctuality who can't stand to be late to anything so she always shows up early instead? She certainly wasn't going to be late for her very important birth."

"Did you tell your parents you were in labor right away?"

"Nope, I wrote a note, called a cab, and then snuck out the back."

Luke raised his eyebrow, "You took a cab?"

"Hey, don't judge. Labor is stressful enough without having Emily Gilmore breathing down your neck. I can hear her now. Lorelai, why are you sweating? Stop sweating, ladies don't sweat. Lorelai, don't throw ice chips, it's rude. Young lady, stop using such foul language! You sound like a sailor down at the docks." Lorelai said, impersonating Emily perfectly.

"Your mom can be a little overbearing," Luke agreed, laughing at Lorelai's impression of Emily.

"A little?"

"Okay, a lot overbearing."

"Thank you," She paused for a minute. "So anyway, I got to the hospital and then just waited. I don't think they make it clear just how much waiting is involved in the whole labor process."

"Was he there?" Luke put a lot of emphasis on the word he to let Lorelai know just who he was talking about.

"Chris? No, Christopher didn't show up until a few hours after Rory was born."

Luke frowned, "You had to go through labor all by yourself?"

"Not all by myself, Rory was with me the whole time."

"That's not really the same as having someone there to support you." Luke said, squeezing Lorelia just a little bit tighter into his body.

"No, it wasn't but it was actually kind of nice. Thinking about her helped me focus on what I was getting out of the labor. I talked to her and told her stories about all the fun stuff we'd do together when she got a little older. Well, that's what I did when I wasn't busy being annoyed with her for causing me so much pain or begging her to come out already."

"I don't know why I'm surprised by this, you're an amazing woman."

Lorelai smiled, "Thank you."

"So, Rory was technically your first labor coach?"

"Yeah, I guess she was."

"_Mom?"_

"_I'm in here, sweetie." Lorelai called from the bedroom._

"_What are you doing?" Rory asked, sitting on the edge of the bed._

_Lorelai grabbed Rory's arm gently and pulled her down so that she was lying beside her, "I'm napping."_

"_You don't nap. Are you feeling okay?" Rory asked, her voice filling with concern._

"_I'm fine. Remember what I told you, pregnancy gives you a great excuse to nap."_

"_Right, I forgot."_

"_Plus, my body is definitely missing caffeine," Lorelai said with a whine._

"_Oh, Luke cut you off?"_

"_Completely!"_

_Rory frowned at the thought of no coffee for nine months, "That sucks!"_

_Lorelai nodded in agreement, "Anyway, what's up?"_

"_I wanted to talk to you and Luke about something important."_

"_Okay, well Luke's at the diner right now but you can talk to me."_

_Rory shook her head, "That's okay, I need to talk to both of you. I'll just come back later."_

"_Not so fast," Lorelai said, catching Rory's arm and pulling her closer to her on the bed. "You can't just do that to me."_

"_Do what?"_

"_Tell me you have something important to talk about and then leave. I gave birth to you, you owe me!"_

"_You gave birth to me twenty-two years ago and I still owe you?"_

"_Yes, now come on. We'll fill Luke in later."_

"_Okay," Rory fidgeted with her hands nervously. "I wanted to ask you if I could be there with you and Luke when the baby's born. It's okay if you don't want me there, I know it's going to be a huge, special moment between the two of you. I just…thought it would be nice if I could be in the delivery room too." _

"_Honey, slow down," Lorelai said, smoothing some of Rory's hair off her forehead. "Luke and I have already talked about this and we would love to have you there with us."_

"_Really?"_

_Lorelai wrapped her arms around Rory, "Of course we would. I just know how uncomfortable the whole process makes you and didn't want to put any pressure on you."_

"_I think I can handle it, as long as I don't have to cut anything."_

_Lorelia took Rory's hand and placed in on her slightly swollen abdomen, "I promise you won't have to cut anything. Just be there told hold my hand and meet your little brother or sister right away."_

"_I can do that."_

"_Good," Lorelai smiled, kissing Rory's temple. "This is good."_

"_Why?"_

"_Well, even though we both know I'm a complete joy to be around when I'm in pain, I'm sure Luke will be relieved to have someone to back him up."_

"You still must have been scared, even with Rory to focus on," Luke said. It pained him to imagine sixteen year old Lorelai going through such an ordeal by herself.

"Oh, I was terrified. I couldn't admit that to anyone though."

"Of course not."

Lorelai sighed, "I just wanted someone there with me to tell me everything was going to be okay and to hold my hand."

Luke was rubbing her lower back in a circular motion, "I wish I could have been there with you that night. Not as the father or anything, because then Rory wouldn't be Rory. Just so that…you know…you wouldn't have had to do everything alone. I would have let you throw ice chips at me."

"Luke," Lorelai sniffled and wiped a tear from her cheek.

He kissed her head, "I'm sorry, didn't mean to make you cry."

"No, it's okay." Lorelai stated firmly, lifting her head from his chest and kissing him. "It's just that every morning I wake up and think that I couldn't possibly love you any more than I already do and then you go and say something to make me love you even more."

"It'll be different this time," Luke reassured her.

"I know it will be. Not that Rory's birth was bad, because it really wasn't. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful it felt the first time I saw her. The nurse put her in my arms and she stopped crying right away and just looked at me. I was hers and I knew in that moment that she was well worth every second of pain." Lorelai said, tearing up at the memory of Rory.

"Mom? Luke?" Rory called, one hand covering her eyes while she felt her way down the hall with the other one.

"We're in the bedroom, honey." Lorelai called back.

"Why are you covering your eyes, Rory?" Luke asked, puzzled.

"Um," she said once she'd reached the door and removed her hand from her eyes, "I wasn't sure if mom had talked you into doing _something_ to try to get labor started."

"Sweetie, you know Luke and I would close the door if we were going to do that."

Luke looked embarrassed, "Lorelai! Don't tell her that, we wouldn't do that!"

"We wouldn't close the door?" Lorelai replied, a naughty grin lighting up her face. She loved how easy it was to mess with Luke.

"Oh jeez, of course we'd close the door. We wouldn't do _that_ with Rory in the house."

"Actually," Lorelai tapped her belly, "If I remember correctly, this happened during one of Rory's visits."

Luke sighed, "Ignore your mother."

Rory was leaning on the door frame, "Will do. So if you aren't trying to get labor started, what are you doing? I was having abandonment issues."

"I'm sorry, babe. Come here." Lorelai patted the bed on the other side of her. "I was just telling Luke your favorite story."

"The one about the princess and the slightly pornographic fountains?" Rory asked, sitting down next to her mother.

"You're a funny girl, but no, I was telling Luke about the night you were born."

Rory blushed a little, "Oh, that story."


End file.
